Saturday, November 19, 2011

What "It" Is Finished?

Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered.

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Then the devil takes him up into the holy city, and sets him on a pinnacle of the temple, And said to him, If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning you: and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.

Again, the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And said to him, All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus to him, Get you hence, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.

Then the devil leaves him, and, behold, angels came and ministered to him. Matthew 4:1-11

Have you ever felt like you can’t do anything right …

Or like everything you do just seems to go wrong? Well your first response needs to be to follow the leadership of the Lord Jesus. He has absolutely given you the way to victory in His responses to temptation in the scripture above.

Have you ever felt like you just aren’t good enough? Well, guess what ... you’re not good enough. You will never be good enough. But Jesus is perfect and victorious over all things and that is good enough for you.

It is finished.

A primary goal of the enemy of Christ is to rob every believer of their assurance of salvation. He wants to take away your peace and joy. You might have feelings of depression and fear that could overpower you. In any event, we can be sure that he will attack us in the areas of lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

The enemy can cause you to be brought down. The danger is that you become vulnerable to the attacks of the evil one and fall into a pattern of deception that leads to all forms of sin. If you feel yourself coming under these feelings that are not of Christ, what should you immediately do?

Well, once again, that is easy. Follow the leading of the Lord Jesus. Your first response needs to be the sword of the Spirit. Just as Jesus did; quote the specific verses that answer the specific attacks you are experiencing.

You can say or do things that you are ashamed of, and that you deeply regret, but the evil one can never take away from you that which Jesus paid the price for on the cross at Calvary. That is our salvation, our eternal life, and our peace and joy. Stand firm on God’s promises.

We all fall short of who we are in Christ. It is at that moment that we are most vulnerable to attack. The enemy will attack, that is a given. The question is: “How will you respond to the attack?” Will you counter him with your most powerful weapon, the Sword of the Spirit? Or will you fail miserably in defeat? This is your choice.

It is not uncommon for Christians to fall short in their relationship with God. It is because of this, many believers might feel insecure in their assurance of God's love for them. Once again the enemy will plant doubts in an attempt to get you to believe more lies. One lie leads to another and the next thing you know, the evil one is leading you down dark paths. The path where the powers of darkness lead, always turns out to be a lie, and always leads to sin. Our response needs to be quick and vocal. Claim the truth and the promises of God. Pray for God’s forgiveness, and cleansing when you stumble, and follow God’s Word, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Rebuke Evil.

But you say: “I don’t know where I will be attacked; and how will I know which verses are God’s answers to my specific attack?” Please … you do know where you are weak, and where you are most likely to fail, and God’s answers are not hard to find. If you need counsel; contact me directly, and I will help you figure it out. You are without excuse. The victory over any struggle is yours … or not. It’s your choice.

Make a list of the areas where you are weak. List the specific ways in which Satan is most likely to attack you. Now, find specific Truth that answers these attacks. Call out the devil. Tell the enemy out loud on each area of weakness: “you have no power over me, in the name of Christ begone.” Print out the verses, memorize the Truth, and speak them out, over and over, telling the enemy to leave you alone. If you begin to stumble … reject the devil, again and again … say the verses out loud.

The evil one will always flee the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God … and angels will come and minister to you. This is the Certain Victory, the reality of the Matthew 4 text. Jesus gave us this story of His temptation for our training.

The fleeting assurances of the world come and go but the promises of our Lord and Savior are ours to stand upon every moment, and they are eternal. Christ is an everlasting reality. God’s salvation is absolute. We are complete in Him. It is finished. You can know that you have the victory. In Christ, there is absolutely no question of who you are, and where you are going for eternity.

"After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it on hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said;

It is finished ... John 19:28-30

There is no need for FEAR or doubt. The "it" in: “it is finished” is you ... for eternity. Jesus was finished paying the price for your sins.

You are "It"

The wonderful news for all believers is that Jesus Christ is our assurance. He is the only certainty that always stands strong against the forces of evil. Never underestimate the power of the blood of Christ. It is all the assurance you will ever need to be certain of God's love and care for your life.

The good news is that, even when we do not know what the future holds, we can know the One … Who holds the future. This is the assurance that breeds confidence.

Every believer in Jesus Christ can have the absolute certainty of their eternal life. We are justified in Him. He has finished the last chapter of the book of our life for eternity.

No matter what happens here, Jesus Christ has given us assurance that we are His, bought and paid for, with His shed blood at Calvary. No matter how much we fail, He is working all of our failures together for good, for our victory in Him.

We will never be good enough. But to the contrary, He conquered all things past, present, and future. He is our Hope or we have no hope. He is our Peace and Joy and Rest. In Him we are justified and sanctified; forever and ever. There is no losing for any believer in Jesus Christ. Some may be losers in this world, but with Him, they are always winners for eternity. And on the contrary, the biggest winners in this world will be certain losers eternally, without the free gift of life offered through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ at Calvary.

Do you know Jesus as your Lord and savior? Confess your sins now and pray for Jesus to save you. Ask Him to give you eternal Life. Dedicate the rest of your life to living for Him and His Truth. He will send you the Spirit of Truth to teach you how to win all of your battles with the forces of evil. Now tell other believers about decision. E-mail me, I want to celebrate with you.

Jesus will give you Peace and Joy that the enemy and the forces of evil can never take away from you.

No matter how you feel, no matter what accusations you may wrestle with from within or from without, Jesus Christ will never condemn those He purchased with His blood. In fact, Jesus Christ makes this perfectly clear when He said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life.” John 5:24

The believer trusting the blood shed for them by Jesus on the cross has already passed from death unto life and will not come into condemnation. This is our only needed incentive for holy living and joyful hearts. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.

There is no need for FEAR or doubt. The "it" in: “it is finished” is you ... for eternity. Jesus was finished paying the price for your sins.

You are "It"

Everything Jesus needed to do to make a way for your eternal reconciliation with Him was finished at the cross on Calvary.

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often contradict the wisdom of the world.Since we have been programmed by the world ...we have come to accept these worldly ideas as truth ...but when we consider God’s perspective ...we come to understand ..."the Lord's ways are not our ways"

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